“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey was once the media darling of mixed martial arts.
With her signature arm bar, she dismantled the UFC’s women’s ranks. Arguably, Rousey also made the male-dominated MMA popular among women and young girls.
Now, the current star of wrestling’s WWE organization is looking past her former glories. Although she never officially retired, Rousey sounds very content with her absence from the Octagon.
“There’s not a day that goes by that people aren’t telling me to fight,” said Rousey. “I have to try and think of it as, ‘Would I rather be the greatest of all time, or have everybody think I’m the greatest of all time?’ It used to be so important to me to have both. But now it’s got to the point where I don’t want to sacrifice myself and my family to prove that anymore to a bunch of people that don’t give a (expletive) about me.”
After going 12-0 with six successful defenses of her UFC bantamweight title, Rousey caught two KO “L’s” back-to-back. At UFC 193 in 2015, Holly Holm launched the head kick heard around the world that felled Rousey in the second round.
Next, her first-round :48 second TKO loss to current UFC double champ Amanda Nunes signaled her exit from the competition. Now, Rousey is a bonafide wrestling star utilizing her Olympic level judo training to floor competitors.
“I know, and the people who love me know [what I’ve accomplished]. It’s no longer a priority in my life. All the people that tell you, ‘Come on, fight again! Do this again.’ They would never do that for me.”
Rousey is married to former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne. Her mother, AnnMaria De Mars was the first woman to win a gold medal at the World Judo Championships in 1984.
“It’s hard when everyone around you, the value they have for you is how you fight, and how they see you is how you fight, and the only thing they think you have to offer is how you fight,” Rousey said. “It was actually my husband that taught me I’m so much more than just a fighter. I don’t have to fight myself into the ground to prove that I’m the greatest of all time when I already know that I am.”
